Method of protecting butt flash welded articles from weld splatter



June 1-6, 1953 A. L. LINDOW METHOD OF PROTECTING BUTT FLASH WELDED ARTICLES FROM WELD SPLATTER Flld Nov 15 1951 /FIG.3

Ill

IO [9 ///////////f INVENTOR. AR'I'H UR L. LINDOVI A rronnsr Patented June 16, 1953 METHOD OF PROTECTING BUTT FLASH WELDED ARTICLES FROM WELD SPLATTER Arthur L. Lindow, Macedonia, Ohio, assignor to The Cleveland Pneumatic Tool Company, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application November 13, 1951, Serial No. 255,993

6 Claims.

1 This invention relates broadly to butt flash Welding, but more particularly to an improved process for protecting the surfaces of the pieces intended to be welded from weld splatter.

In the process of butt flash welding of two 5 ii of an external diameter substantially equal members, molten metal is ejected from the matto the internal diameters of the members In and ing faces by the arc during the burn off period ll, thereby causing the shields to fit rather before upsetting. This molten metal or splattightly in the members. The shields are long ter, when it struck the surfaces of the members enough to cover the surfaces adjacent to or in being welded, tightly adheredvthereto and althe vicinity of the intended weld. They are most became an integral part thereof. Consepreferably made of paper or other combustible q ly the area adjacent to t e Weld be a material, either organic or inorganic or a comcovered W th s splatter, Which o y wa bination of both. They are made suiiiciently detrime tal to the appearance of e We thick to assure rigidity and prevent deformation pieces, but also increased their weight, and in when subjected to welding heat. cases where smooth surfaces were required, the With th hi l |1 l t in t t m removal such splatter c me a major and members ID, i I and adjacent the ends thereof pensive operation. to be welded, the butt flash welding operation It is therefore the object of this invention to may b effected in t usual manner AS is Well Provide an improved cess through Which the known in this art, when electric current is caused We p e may be reduced in the immediate to flow through the members and their ends are vicinity of e W joint and entirely eliminated moved toward each other substantially as shown in the area adjacent thereto. in Fig. 1, an electric arc will take place between Another object of this invention is to provide a th nd 12, 13, hi are 111 Cause t end porsimple and efficient method of removing weld ti of th members t 1t and as the splatter from the interior of tubular welded berg m, H are pushed toward each other t members. abutting relation, as shown in Fig. 2, the abut- Anothel Obj c f this tio s to provide ting ends of the members H], II start to be fused a s p method of protecting the surfaces of together and upon further endwise pressure the members intended to be welded from weld spla abutting ends are completely fused or welded toy using p t ve S i Which can readily gether as shown in Fig. 3. As the two members be removed from the Welded m mb after in, i i are pushed together, it causes some of the welding. molten metal to flow radially and form an in- Another object of this invention is to reduce t l ennumr bead of upset meted g and a the amount Of fl present at the Welded j t, similar external bead l9, while the extraneous that is, the amount of material which is ejected t ri l extruded during t upsetting Operafrom the faces of the mat parts during upset tion forms internal and external flashes, the inand does not form a structural part of the weld, ternal one being shown at 2|.

Other objects of this nve not a this time During the welding operation just described, more particularly enumerated will be clearly un- 40 n espeeiany befor t members 3, H are derstood from the following detailed description. pushed into abutting relationship as shown in In the accompanying drawings: Fig.2, a certain amount of metal suddenly molten Figure l is a longitudinal sectional view of two by the electric arc will forcibly be ejected from tubular members intended to be welded, and 11- the ends l2, l3 externally and internally therelustrating the protecting shields located in the of. As this ejected metal or splatter 2i) strikes interior th of a the inner walls of the members adjacent the Figures 2, 3 and 4 are views similar to Figure 1, weld, it would, except for the shields l1, tightly showing the parts in positions which they py adhere to the walls and cause the inner surface successively during the welding operation. adjacent to the weld to become coated with Figure 5 is a cross sectional view taken on line 5 coarse, unevenly distributed and very hard metin al. With the shields l'l protecting the inner Referring to the drawings, I0 and II reprewalls of the members In and l I, the splatter is sent tubular members whose adjacent ends l2 deposited on the inner walls of the shield rather and 13 respectively are intended to be butt than on the inner walls of the members being welded. Inserted in the end of one member, welded. In order to prevent COmbIJStIOIJ. of the 2 there is a plug [5 having a central port [6 extending therethrough.

Located in each member near the end thereof intended to be welded, there is a sleeve-like shield shields from the welding heat, there is introduced into the interior of the members In, H through the port It of the plug l5 a gas adapted to remove the oxygen from the interior of the members I0, II and from the shields ll. This gas can be an inert gas such as helium or argon, but preferably it is a combustible natural gas which has the additional advantage of producing a non-oxidizing atmosphere inside the members I0, H and results in less oxidized metal. This gas is turned on just before the welding current is caused to flow though the members in, l l and is turned ofi as soon as the current is cut off. With the oxygen thus removed from the interior of the members I0, .lland shields I l, combustion of the paper shields is impossible.

Once the weld is completed and the plug [5 removed, it is a relatively simple operation toremove the shields ll and splatter 20 from the .interior of the members. To that end, the shields can either be burned off 'by subsequent thermal treatment and the splatter shaken out of the members, or in assemblies Where the weld is readily accessible, the flash 2! and shields I! can be knocked out by the use of a bar or the like.

In some instances, it is preferable to replace the two shields |"l,'by a single but longer one extending longitudinally on both sides of the weld. This single shield is especially desirable when internal means is needed to assist in the aligning of the members. In such event, the

single shield in addition to its protective function also acts as an aligning bushing between the two tubular members.

The interior of tubular members such as H), I l is the most practical and common application of the invention. However, instead of using tubular shields, irregular shapes could be protected in a similar manner by coating the surfaces near the weld with a pulp, and allowing it to dry before proceeding with the welding operation.

From the foregoing, it will be understood that the invention provides for protective shields preferably made of combustible material which is prevented from burning during thev welding operation by the introduction of combustible and inert gas to eliminate oxygen. It will also be understood that by using protective shields in'the manner above specified, the surfaces of the welded pieces adjacent to the weld remain free of splatter, thereby eliminating the tedious and expensive operation heretofore necessary to remove this splatter.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is:

1. In conjunction with the butt flash welding of two tubular members, the process .of protecting the inner walls of said members from weld splatter which consists of inserting into each member adjacent to the end intended to be welded a combustible tubular shield of sufiicient thickness to assure rigidity, preventing its combustion from the welding heat by removing oxygen from said shield, and subsequent to welding burning off said shields and removing the loose splatter from the interior of the welded members.

2. In conjunction with the butt flash welding of two tubular members, the process of protecting the inner walls of said members from weld splatter which consists of inserting into each member adjacent to the end intended to be welded a combustible tubular shield of sufiicient thickness to assure rigidity, removing oxygen from said shield to prevent its combustion from the welding heatpby introducing a 'gas into the interior thereof, and subsequent to welding burning off said shields and removing the loose splatter from the interior of the welded mem- :bers.

3. In conjunction with the butt flash welding of two tubular members, the process of protecting the inner wallsof said members from weld splatter which consists of inserting into each member near the end thereof intended to be welded a tubular paper shield of sufiicient thickness .to-assure rigidity and of external diameter substantially equal to the internal diameters of said members, removing oxygen from said shield to prevent its combustion "from the welding heat by causing a gas to flow therethrough during welding, and thereafter burning ofi'said shields and removing the loose splatter from the interior of the welded members.

4. Inconjunction'with the butt flash Welding of two members, the process of protecting said members from 'We'ld splatter which consists of covering the surfaces-of said members in the vicinity of the intended weld with paper shields, preventing combustion of said shields .from the welding heat by removing oxygen'therefrom, and subsequent to welding burning on said shields and removing loose splatter from said members.

'5. In conjunction with the ,butt flash welding of two members, the process of protecting the surfaces of said members in the vicinity of the intended weld from weld splatter which consists of covering said surfaces with a combustible shield, preventing combustiono'f said shield from;

the welding heat by causing agas to ifiow over said shield and remove oxygen therefrom, and.

subsequent to welding burning on said shield and removing the loose splatter from said members- 6. In con-junction'with the butt flash welding of two tubular members, the process of protec't-' ingthe. inner walls of said members from weld splatter which consists of inserting into each member adjacent to the :end 'intended to .be

welded a paper rshie'ldio-f sufficient thickness to assure rigidity, preventing its combustion from the welding heat by removing oxygen from said shield, and subsequent to welding removing said shields and "loose splatter from 'the interior of 

